Cache device and method for generating a virtual radio or television broadcast

• US 7,496,947 B1
• Filed: 02/28/2000
• Issued: 02/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Meyers, Stephan
• Primary Examiner(s): Lonsberry, Hunter B.
• Application Number:
  US09/513,964
• Time in Patent Office: 3,284 Days
• Field of Search: 725 32- 35, 725/68, 725/87, 725/100, 725/109, 725/133, 725/141, 725/153, 725/48, 725/46, 700 93- 94, 370/352, 455/550, 455/556, 455/564
• US Class Current: 725/97
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2668 Creating a channel for a dedicated end-user group, e.g. insertion of targeted commercials based on end-user profiles information retrieval from the Internet by querying with filtering and personalisation G06F16/9535; arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast H04H20/10; push services over packet-switching network H04L12/1859; adaptation of message content in packet-switching networks H04L51/063
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/458 Scheduling content for creating a personalised stream, e.g. by combining a locally stored advertisement with an incoming stream; Updating operations, e.g. for OS modules ; time-related management operations arrangements for replacing or switching information during the broadcast or during the distribution H04H20/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/475 End-user interface for inputting end-user data, e.g. personal identification number [PIN], preference data
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/812 involving advertisement data advertising per se G06Q30/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

Method for generating a virtual radio or television broadcast by downloading data, including content, information, and advertising, in any order from a Web site on the Internet. The data is downloaded to a device that is preferably portable, such an MP3 player or a mobile phone, and can be connected intermittently to the Internet over a wireless connection. Software loaded on the device uses an algorithm, specified by a user or otherwise, to organize the downloaded data into a particular order, such as into a conventional radio or television-style broadcast format. User data and preferences can also be uploaded to the Web site to influence the type of data that is downloaded. A virtual periodically-updated newscast can be similarly generated.

Claims

1. A method for generating a virtual broadcast on a virtual broadcast device, the method comprising:

connecting the virtual broadcast device to a Web site over a wireless connection, the virtual broadcast device being a mobile phone;

downloading and storing data comprising content and other information to be integrated into the virtual broadcast from the Web site to the virtual broadcast device in any order, the content comprising songs and the other information comprising at least one of introductions to the songs, advertisements, weather information, and news;

organizing the data on the virtual broadcast device into a particular order for the virtual broadcast according to a selected algorithm provided on the virtual broadcast device after all of the data for the virtual broadcast is downloaded from the Web site, whereby the virtual broadcast device is disconnectable from the Web site during said step of organizing;

presenting, by the virtual broadcast device, the virtual broadcast to the user;

applying a ranking, by a user using the virtual broadcast device, to at least one of the songs in the virtual broadcast while the at least one of the songs is being presented in said step of presenting, the user ranking influencing the probability of playing the at least one song in the virtual broadcast; and

adjusting, by the virtual broadcast device, the virtual broadcast in accordance with the user ranking so that the number of times that at least one song is played within a predetermined time period is adjusted based on the user ranking.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising selecting the data to be downloaded based on user preferences.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising downloading advertising from the Web site and inserting the advertising into the virtual broadcast.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the content is comprised of a plurality of items and the information comprises a plurality of introductions related to the items of content and said step of organizing the virtual broadcast comprises introducing each of the plurality of items of content with a related one of said introductions.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising uploading from the virtual broadcast device to the Web site the user ranking of the selected song, and downloading additional content and additional other information to update the virtual broadcast on the basis of the user ranking.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the data to be downloaded and stored from the Web site is selected by the operator of the Web site based on user preferences.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the data to be downloaded and stored from the Web site is selected by the user.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of playing the virtual broadcast on a player device other than the virtual broadcast device.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of entering, by the user, user information including registration information required by the Web site after said step of connecting.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein said step of entering further comprises entering a selection of a format recognizable by the virtual broadcast device in which to download information.

19. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of communicating user preferences to the Web site using a control on the virtual broadcast device, which maintains the user preferences on the virtual broadcast device.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein the other information includes speech which is recorded in one or more voices including recorded human voices and synthesized speech, the voice to be downloaded being selected by the user.

21. The method of claim 3 wherein the downloading of advertising is based on user preferences.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein the algorithm for organizing the data is responsive to external triggers.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the external triggers include one of the time of day, motion, and localized low power radio transmitters.

24. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of establishing a connection between a Web site and the virtual broadcast device for transmitting urgent breaking news as a small amount of data from the Web site to the virtual device and having one of a synthesized and a prerecorded voice read the urgent breaking news during the virtual broadcast.

34. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of downloading comprises using a wireless connection and downloading at bulk bandwidth rates.

36. The device of claim 23 wherein the localized low power radio transmitters triggers and advertisement defined for that location.

37. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of discarding dated location of said other information after a period of time.

38. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of adjusting comprises adjusting the organized virtual broadcast so that songs with a higher ranking are played more often than songs with a lower ranking.

39. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of adjusting further comprises replacing lower ranked songs in the virtual broadcast device with new songs.

40. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of uploading a log of the user'"'"'s listening history for one of providing demographic information for advertisers and determining distribution of royalties.

51. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of establishing a connection to a web site and downloading updated news stories at periodic intervals, incorporating the updated new stories in the virtual broadcast by replacing old stories in the virtual broadcast.

6. A method for generating a virtual broadcast on a virtual broadcast device, the method comprising:

connecting the virtual broadcast device to a Web site over a wireless connection, the virtual broadcast device being a mobile phone;

capturing in the virtual broadcast device a signal generated by conventional broadcast means, the signal comprising content and other information to be integrated into the virtual broadcast and transmitted by the conventional broadcast means in any order, the content comprising songs and the other information comprising at least one of introductions to the songs, advertisements, weather information, and news;

organizing the captured content and other information on the virtual broadcast device into a particular order for the virtual broadcast according to a selected algorithm provided on the virtual broadcast device after all of the data for the virtual broadcast is captured, whereby the virtual broadcast device is disconnectable from the Web site and the conventional broadcast means during said step of organizing;

presenting, by the virtual broadcast device, the virtual broadcast to the user;

applying a ranking, by a user using the virtual broadcast device, to at least one of the songs in the virtual broadcast while the at least one of the songs is being presented in said step of presenting, the user ranking influencing the probability of playing the at least one song in the virtual broadcast; and

adjusting, by the virtual broadcast device, the virtual broadcast in accordance with the user ranking so that the number of times that at least one song is played within a predetermined time period is adjusted based on the user ranking.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising downloading advertising from the Web site and inserting the advertising into the virtual broadcast.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein the content is comprised of a plurality of songs, the information comprises DJ introductions to the songs and the virtual broadcast is a virtual radio broadcast.

25. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of providing the user ranking to the source of the conventional broadcast means.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the user ranking is provided using an Internet connection.

9. A method for generating a virtual television broadcast on a virtual television broadcast device, the method comprising:

connecting the virtual television broadcast device to a Web site over a wireless connection, the virtual television broadcast device being a mobile phone;

downloading and storing files comprising a plurality of news stories and other information to be integrated in the virtual television broadcast from the Web site to the virtual television broadcast device in any order, the other information comprising at least one of introductions to the news stories, weather reports, stock quotes, and advertising;

organizing the stored content and other information on the virtual television broadcast device into a particular order for the virtual broadcast according to a selected algorithm provided on the virtual television broadcast device after all of the data for the virtual television broadcast is downloaded from the Web site, whereby the virtual television broadcast device is disconnectable from the Web site during said step of organizing;

periodically downloading an additional news story from the Web site; and

generating an updated virtual television broadcast by incorporating the additional news story into the previously generated virtual television broadcast after all of the data for the additional news story is downloaded from the Web site.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the virtual television broadcast and the revised television broadcast display both news and other information at the same time on different portions of a screen on the virtual television broadcast device.

27. The method of claim 9 wherein said step of periodically downloading comprises periodically connecting to the Internet after the step of organizing.

28. The method of claim 9 wherein at least one of the other information comprises items that are streamed across a separate area of the screen than the content during playback of the virtual broadcast.

11. A method for generating a virtual television broadcast on a virtual television broadcast device, the method comprising:

connecting the virtual television broadcast device to a Web site over a wireless connection, the virtual television broadcast device being a mobile phone;

capturing in the virtual television broadcast device a signal generated by a conventional broadcast means, the signal comprising video of a plurality of news stories and other information to be integrated into the virtual television broadcast and transmitted by the conventional broadcast means in any order, the other information comprising at least one of introductions to the news stories, weather reports, stock quotes, and advertising; and

organizing the content and other information on the virtual television broadcast device into a particular order for the virtual broadcast according to a selected algorithm provided on the virtual television broadcast device after all of the data for the virtual television broadcast is downloaded from the Web site, whereby the virtual television broadcast device is disconnectable from the conventional broadcast means during said step of organizing;

periodically downloading an additional news story from the Web site and generating an updated virtual television broadcast by incorporating the additional news story into the previously generated virtual television broadcast.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the virtual television broadcast and the revised television broadcast display both news and other information at the same time on different portions of a screen on the virtual television broadcast device.

29. The method of claim 11 further comprising the step of providing the user ranking to the source of the conventional broadcast means.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein the user ranking is provided using an Internet connection.

31. The method of claim 11 wherein said step of capturing a signal comprises capturing, by an antenna on the virtual television broadcast device, a signal generated by a conventional television broadcast.

13. A device for generating a virtual television broadcast, the device comprising:

a memory;

means for inputting data, comprising video of a plurality of news stories and other information to be integrated into the virtual television broadcast, to be stored in the memory, wherein the device is a mobile phone capable of making a wireless connection to the Internet for downloading the data, the content comprising songs and the other information comprising at least one of introductions to the songs, advertisements, weather information, and news;

means for organizing the data into the virtual broadcast comprising the news stories interspersed with the other information according to a specific algorithm provided on the device after all the data for the virtual broadcast is input to the memory, said device being disconnectable from the Internet while the means for organizing organizes the data; and

means for periodically inputting an additional news story and generating an updated virtual television broadcast by including the additional news story into the previously generated virtual television broadcast.

33. The device of claim 13 further comprising a first display for displaying at least one of information related to content being played and menu selections and a second display for displaying video content.

32. A portable electronic device, comprising:

a digital player configured to playing multimedia content including songs and other information comprising at least one of introductions to the songs, advertisements, weather information, news and videos;

a memory configured to store the multimedia content to be played;

a receiver configured to receive data including the multimedia content, said receiver including an antenna configured to capture radio transmissions;

an input device including buttons associated with functions of said device;

a processor connected with said player, said memory, said receiver, and said input device, said processor including software means configured to generate an automated mixing of songs by processing multiple songs simultaneously and weaving the songs into a virtual broadcast which is played by said digital player;

a display connected to said processor configured to display information relative to said virtual broadcast; and

means configured to allow user input of rankings of the songs using said input device during presentation of the songs by said digital player, the user ranking configured to influence the probability of playing the at least one song in the virtual broadcast, said software means further comprising means configured to adjust the virtual broadcast in response to the rankings so that the number of times that at least one song is played within a predetermined time period is adjusted based on the user ranking.

41. The device of claim 32 further comprising a second display for displaying video content.

42. The portable electronic device of claim 32, wherein said other information is prerecorded in a simulated voice.

43. The portable electronic device of claim 32, wherein said other information is prerecorded in a plurality of DJ voices, said input device providing means for user selection of one of said plural DJ voices.

45. The portable electronic device of claim 32, wherein said means for receiving comprises means for receiving, from local low powered radio transmitters, ads defined for the location of each of the local low powered radio transmitters, said device further comprising means for automatically discarding certain dated information.

46. The portable electronic device of claim 32, wherein said means for adjusting includes means for including higher ranked songs more often than lower ranked songs in the virtual broadcast.

47. The portable electronic device of claim 32, wherein said means for adjusting includes means for replacing lower ranked songs with new songs received by said receiver.

48. The portable electronic device of claim 32, wherein said software means includes means for generating logs of a user'"'"'s listening history, said logs being uploadable to provide demographic information for use by advertisers and to determine distribution of royalities.

49. The portable electronic device of claim 32, further comprising means for displaying a stream of streaming information separate from said information relative to said virtual broadcast.

50. The portable electronic device of claim 49, wherein the streaming information comprises at least one of news headlines, stock information, and weather reports.

35. A method for generating a virtual broadcast on a virtual broadcast device, the method comprising:

connecting the virtual broadcast device to a Web site over a wireless connection, the virtual broadcast device being a mobile phone;

downloading and storing data comprising content and other information to be integrated into the virtual broadcast from the Web site to the virtual broadcast device in any order, the content comprising songs and the other information comprising at least one of introductions to the songs, advertisements, weather information, and news, wherein the other information includes speech which is recorded in one or more voices including recorded human voices and synthesized speech, the voice to be downloaded being selected by the user; and

organizing the data on the virtual broadcast device into a particular order for the virtual broadcast according to a selected algorithm provided on the virtual broadcast device after all of the data for the virtual broadcast is downloaded from the Web site, whereby the virtual broadcast device is disconnectable from the Web site during said step of organizing, wherein each of the one or more voices is associated with a different algorithm for performing said step of organizing such that said step of organizing is performed using the algorithm corresponding to the one or more voices selected by the user.

44. A portable electronic device, comprising:

a digital player configured to play multimedia content including songs and other information comprising at least one of introductions to the songs, advertisements, weather information, news and videos, wherein said other information is prerecorded in a plurality of DJ voices;

a memory configured to store the multimedia content to be played;

a receiver configured to receive data including the multimedia content, said receiver including an antenna configured to capture radio transmissions;

an input device including buttons associated with functions of said device, said input device configured to provide means for user selection of one of said plural DJ voices;

a processor connected with said player, said memory, said receiver, and said input device, said processor including software means configured to generate an automated mixing of songs by processing multiple songs simultaneously and weaving the songs into a virtual broadcast which is played by said digital player, wherein said software means comprises a different algorithm for each of said plural DJs such that the multimedia content is to be played is determined in response to the currently selected one of the plural DJs; and

a display connected to said processor configured to display information relative to said virtual broadcast.